Ok so today is Valentine’s Day and for a romantically challenged individual like myself, this is a day that makes me feel a little lame. I’ve already admitted that I don’t really play the flowers and candy game all that well. I am pretty much a cynic when it comes to these holidays created by card companies to just make a buck or two. Perhaps it’s because I know a little history of St. Valentine and it really had nothing to do with cards, candy or carnations! But to be totally truthful, I did get cards this year for two of the people who I love dearly – my wife and my daughter. But does a card really show how much I love someone?

I do hope you know the answer to that question is a bold and emphatic No! As I stood in front of the cards in the local Hallmark, I was a little disheartened that none of the cards really stated what I wanted to say. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice cards but they were just missing something. The cards I found seemed to look at love from a pretty limited position. It seemed as if they were saying I love you because I’m with you. And as great as that is, there’s something terribly important that is missing!

Sure the people with whom I spend large quantities of my time are the ones I do really love, but I don’t love them because I’m with them. Actually the opposite is more true I’m with them because I love them. I take time out of my day to be with the ones I love. I move my calendar around, shift the budget, get up a few minutes early, stay up a little later just because I love these people. When you love someone with a love bigger than Valentine’s Day, then you’ll go the extra mile to be near someone, even if only virtually, to let them know how truly special they are to you.

The bible talks of this love. The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a church in a place called Corinth. In this letter he described love and there wasn’t a single reference to flowers! Can you believe it?!?! Ok so for real, the love he discusses in this letter is selfless and it has not boundaries. The rules of life just can’t hold this kind of love back. This kind of love doesn’t stop when things get difficult. It doesn’t give up when it is challenge or even when it’s not returned. What Paul describes here is the love that Jesus has for us. It’s the love that made the Son of God become a man. It’s the love that allowed a normal woman named Mary to give birth to a baby boy named Jesus who would transform the way we look at life.

The bible says that love is patient, kind, not envious, doesn’t boast, not arrogant or rude, selfless, not irritable or resentful, doesn’t dwell on negative but is drawn to the truth, it bears all things – believes all things – hopes all things and endures all things. This is the kind of love that changes the way we see Valentine’s Day. This is the love that should shape the way we see our friends and neighbors. This is the love that God tells us to have toward our neighbor.

We talk a lot about love in this world. Can’t we all just get along? is a question we ask all too often. But loving someone isn’t just getting along, it’s a willingness to go through the fires of life alongside someone. Real love doesn’t take away every pain, but it never leaves even in the pain. This love is a love that will always be present. This love always wins.

So today, open your cards. Smell your flowers. Eat your heart-shaped cookies. Fill your stomach with sugary treats. But know this someone loves you far more than any card could explain. There is someone who loves you enough to walk with you through every storm in life. There is someone here who will never leave you alone even when the rest of this world turns its back on you. And that’s a love you can’t find at Hallmark! Know that you are loved!